Delhi-UP bus row may be solved soon

The six-month-old transport dispute between Uttar Pradesh and Delhi is expected to be solved on May 18. A high-level delegation of officials from the neighbouring state would discuss the issue with their Delhi counterpart and sort out the issues.

Delhi Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf on Wednesday said that the transport officials from UP would talk to the officials of Delhi and find a solution. “We could not move ahead in the previous government of UP due to its intransigent stand. We hope, the people of Delhi and the NCR towns would soon get relief,” said Yusuf.

As there is no agreement on plying of buses between the two states, the talks on Friday is also expected to finalise the ground rules. In the previous regime of the Samajwadi party in UP, the then government wanted the number of kilometres plied in each state as the basis of an agreement. Delhi, however, wants the agreement to be based on the trips taken and not km. “Delhi is a small state and the buses of UP hardly travel in Delhi so number of kms plied cannot be a scientific basis of an agreement,” said the minister.

Transport officials hoped that if a deal is signed between the two states, normal bus services between Delhi and UP could resume as early as May 19. For the last six months, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has stopped plying its buses to destinations in UP and Uttarakhand. The UP Transport Corporation buses too are not entering the borders of Delhi and terminate their services in Kaushambi, Ghaziabad.